Happy Birthday, John Denver!

Happy Birthday, John Denver! He would’ve been 65 today, though I’m sure he never would have retired in any traditional sense.

And speaking of John Denver, I’ve been emailing the past couple days with a friend from high school — a friend I actually don’t yet remember (very sadly for me) but who has given me a bit of shot in the arm for the vitality of her memories — remembering me, and “how inspirational” I was, my guitar-playing, my John-Denver-song-singing. I told her that I remember being more unsure of myself than inspirational, but I’m glad to know I came off differently than I felt.

So here’s to friends and memories and being thankful for them. And here’s to John Denver. He was a big influence on my teenage years, exactly when a positive and powerful influence is so… well — influential! Happy Birthday, John.

And happy new 2009 to everyone! It’s cool how looking backward makes the future year all the more exciting.